getting settled

After a year of not knowing where my life was headed (or the lives of some loved ones...), a summer of jet-setting, and a few months of home-searching, I finally have planted some roots.

Do not get me wrong; the jet-setting was marvelous, the uncertainty is simply a part of growing up, and the home search taught me quite a bit about real-estate and other things. But isn't it so nice finally to have a place to call home and a sense of direction in one's life, even if things are still a bit up in the air (in more than one corner of my life)?

My heart is finally at peace, my mind is at ease, and my boxes are slowly but surely getting unpacked. I am constantly surrounding myself with people about whom I care so greatly. I am back in my amazing hometown, the coolest city in America, no less, and taking the time to explore every corner of it.

By no means is everything in my life settled and squared away. It is much more about a state of mind, I think. I have something resembling direction and a general idea of what is to come next, but much more than that I have the faith that I can handle it and the tenacity to make sure I do. And I have a net of people cheering for me at every turn, which provides a peace of its own.

Houston, Hailie has returned. I'm home!

all my love,
HAD